Stories from BrainWork, a quarterly newsletter about the latest findings in neuroscience research. http://www.dana.orgWed, 22 Feb 2012 03:32:42 EDTen-usCopyright 2010, Dana Foundation http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=35524Researchers find microparticles can carry treatments across the blood-brain barrier and target only tumor cells.2012-02-13T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=34788New treatment strategies take aim at the underlying disease process in Parkinson’s.2011-12-14T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=34802For some brain diseases, the lack of good laboratory models makes it hard for researchers to understand disease-causes and develop therapies. New stem cell technology offers a powerful solution.2011-06-23T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=23408New educational approaches and advances in brain-based research are making it possible to detect dyslexia even in children too young to read. Though it is not a cure, stepping in early with targeted intervention could prevent reading problems from derailing a child’s education.2009-09-21T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=23432London researchers have gained insight into changes in brain structure that correspond with bipolar disorder and why some close relatives of patients with the disorder do not develop it.2009-09-21T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=23414Researchers studying animal models for depression have uncovered new clues to its neurobiological underpinnings, why antidepressants’ effects are delayed and why some people are more resilient to depression even in the face of major stress. These insights, from two recent papers from Eric Nestler’s research laboratory at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, build on a long-standing but still imperfect science of depression modeling in rodents.2009-09-21T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=23434For the first time, researchers have successfully guided axon growth toward target neurons in rats, a step with implications for treating spinal cord injuries.2009-09-21T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=23406After starting on medication, some people with Parkinson’s disease undergo a dramatic personality change, becoming impulsive, addiction-prone pleasure-seekers. In particular, a high rate of pathological gambling among these patients has led researchers to rethink how the neurotransmitter dopamine works in both diseased and normal brains.2009-09-21T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=23438A study finds that among healthy adults in their 70s, people who were classified as overweight had experienced brain-tissue loss that could represent an increased risk of Alzheimer's disease.2009-09-21T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=23410In order to avoid committing an error—mispronouncing a name or avoiding inadvertent sexual innuendo—we must keep the dreaded error in mind, thereby rehearsing it. By reminding ourselves to avoid a certain mistake, we disrupt the process of the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain which enables us to develop plans, suppress distractions, and resist inappropriate impulses.  The greater the demands on the prefrontal cortex, the more difficult suppression becomes.2009-09-21T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=23436Cells called pericytes keep capillaries constricted after a stroke occurs. Researchers have found that free radicals underlie this constriction, and limiting their production could help brain tissue survive.2009-09-21T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=23412Does consciousness—our awareness that we are perceiving something—arise from a special region in the brain, or from the coherent workings of multiple regions? Analyzing data from electrodes implanted in the brains of epilepsy patients, French researchers suggest the latter.2009-08-14T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=22676A form of visual therapy that employs computer exercises may help restore some vision to patients who lost sight as a result of stroke. Some researchers are skeptical that the patients were truly blind, however.2009-07-02T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=22678A chemical in the amygdala that stimulates the same receptors as marijuana, but more safely, is involved in shoring up highly emotional memories, evidence shows.2009-06-30T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=22666Remaining active—physically, mentally, and socially—can help maintain cognitive function in older adults.2009-06-29T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=22670New research in mice shows that the effects of antidepressants are mediated through both neurogenesis-dependent and -independent mechanisms.2009-06-29T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=22664A new study into the effects of napping suggests that rapid eye movement (REM) sleep may help the brain to create associations between unrelated ideas, enhancing creative problem solving.2009-06-29T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=22668Focusing attention on a visual stimulus causes neurons in the visual cortex to fire in unison, which in turn helps tune out distractions and focus our attention.2009-06-29T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=22672Imaging Reveals Alzheimer’s Clues both Before and After Disease Develops 2009 06 29 false2009-06-29T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=22372As scientists learn more about how the brain grows and learns, universities are developing programs to translate those insights into practical classroom strategies.2009-06-15T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=19840News from the Frontier: Brain response to vision-loss disorder may be swift2009-03-19T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=19842News from the Frontier:  Break in circadian rhythm may lead to disease.2009-03-19T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=19844News from the Frontier: Fine-tuning mechanism may hold key to Alzheimer’s disease.2009-03-19T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=19846News from the Frontier: New mechanism for memory consolidation in sleep.2009-03-19T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=19832Testosterone levels before birth affect financial traders’ success, perhaps by enhancing risk taking, a recent study suggests. The clue lies in the length of traders’ ring fingers relative to their index fingers—longer ring fingers indicate greater testosterone exposure in the womb, and traders with this characteristic made more money than others, on average.2009-03-19T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=19830Elevated blood glucose levels negatively affect a subregion of the hippocampus responsible for forming memories, according to new research. The finding may help explain memory impairment as we age and in people with diabetes. Other studies are looking at whether medications help absorb glucose and improve memory.2009-03-18T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=19826Past studies of psychostimulant drugs taken for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder have shown a slowing of cortical growth, but new imaging research reveals that the drugs may normalize development. Researchers still urge caution, however.2009-03-17T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=19822Experts remain divided on the merits of hormone treatment for menopausal women. New evidence lends support to the idea that timing, genetics and the existence of different estrogen receptors in the brain contribute to the effects of estrogen on memory, mood and cognition.2009-03-16T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=14380Addiction doesn’t just affect people’s pleasure centers; it may also short-circuit brain areas responsible for self-awareness and for restraining impulsive behavior, suggests new research looking into why the disease is so difficult to treat.2009-01-02T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=14414The challenges of movement reward the minds of dancers both professional and amateur—and, in eight programs across the nation, of people with Parkinson’s disease.2009-01-02T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=14402News from the Frontier: Environment influences gene expression.2009-01-02T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=14404News from the Frontier: New scanning technique diagnoses hard-to-detect brain injuries by Ben Mauk.2009-01-02T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=14408Receptors, growth factor may keep astrocytes in line by Tom Valeo2009-01-02T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=14406News from the Frontier: Temporary insomnia may lead to learning troubles by Aalok Mehta2009-01-02T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=14416An extraordinarily itchy tropical plant has provided new insights into what causes various types of itch, how the sensation is transmitted to the brain and how to better treat this common and vexing medical problem.2009-01-02T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=14400Neuroscience-based methods of lie detection already may have passed the test of public acceptance, but whether they work is still an open question in the scientific community. The growing disparity between public and scientific understanding of “forensic neuroscience” was one of several pressing issues that brought nearly 200 people to Washington, D.C., for the annual meeting of the Neuroethics Society.2009-01-02T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=14410Scientists have found that long-term love appears to leave a distinct signature in the brain and that a specific gene affects courtship behavior—at least in mice.2009-01-02T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=14396Recent advances in “brain-computer interfaces” include a technique that can distinguish individual finger movements.2009-01-02T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=14382Addiction doesn’t just affect people’s pleasure centers; it may also short-circuit brain areas responsible for self-awareness and for restraining impulsive behavior, suggests new research looking into why the disease is so difficult to treat.2009-01-02T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=13666With mounting evidence that links cognitive health to exercise and metabolism, a drug that mimcs exercise could mean good news for our brains.2008-11-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=13664 With new methods in cognitive psychology and neuroscience, researchers are extending our understanding of just what facial expressions convey and how we interpret them.2008-11-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=13662Researchers using functional magnetic resonance imaging, or fMRI, have detected which parts of the brain become stronger as children with dyslexia develop their ability to read2008-11-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=13670According to a new study, regularly searching the Internet activates regions of the brain that are known to be involved in decision making and complex reasoning.2008-11-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=13678In a new study, mice that were conditioned to feel safe in stressful situations showed the same ability to overcome fear and depression as mice that were treated with an antidepressant.2008-11-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=13668In a new study, occipital nerve stimulation substantially reduced chronic headache pain in patients unable to tolerate medical therapy.2008-11-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=13672Consuming too many calories activates an immune response pathway in the hypothalamus that causes a dysfunction in the brain’s ability to regulate food intake and energy balance.2008-11-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=13680Stanislas Dehaene, director of the Inserm-CEA Cognitive Neuroimaging Unit in France, says humans are born with a numbers sense, related more to basic calculations and estimates than to recall.2008-11-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=13178Ghrelin, often associated with regulating hunger, has influence in other arenas including depression, learning and memory.2008-09-02T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=13188A new study indicates that deep brain stimulation helps severely depressed patients over time.2008-09-02T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=13196Researchers have pinpointed a protein that triggers the rewiring of visual systems according to visual input.2008-09-02T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=13192Early testing with rats shows that when an animal is unable to retrieve memories associated with drug use, the chances of relapse are reduced.2008-09-02T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=13194The childhood brain tumor medulloblastoma does have treatments, but the side effects are devastating. New research on the source of the tumor may lead to a safer solution.2008-09-02T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=13180When we daydream, our brains "run hot" meaning that the hubs in the default network get worn out, leading to degeneration in the brain.2008-09-02T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=13182Recent studies show that serotonin, often considered a "feel good" chemical, also plays an important role in ensuring smooth social interaction by moderating aggression.2008-09-02T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=13176Drugs and growth factors that target the brain’s “reward pathway” are showing promise as treatment possibilities for alcoholism and are providing insight into how the brain becomes addicted.2008-09-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=12772The rising use of various medications to boost cognitive performance and the prospect of more “memory drugs” on the horizon raise a slew of ethical questions. But an even more fundamental question is whether such drugs are being used as a substitute for sleep—itself a cognitive enhancer of sorts.2008-07-07T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=12776A key player in Alzheimer’s disease may hold a clue to how the HIV virus enters immune cells, which could open new avenues for AIDS treatment.2008-07-07T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=12782A class of drugs being tested for Alzheimer’s disease has proved to work in an unexpected and highly specific way, opening up new possibilities for treating Alzheimer’s and many other diseases.2008-07-07T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=12780A synthetic small molecule has been shown to nudge stem cells toward becoming neurons—an important step in guiding these precursors to develop into any type of tissue.2008-07-07T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=12784Obstructive sleep apnea, in which airways in the nose and mouth collapse due to irritation during sleep, leads to repeated sleep disruption and loud snoring. It also causes memory impairment which, some researchers surmise, results not from simple fatigue but from a specific pattern of neural damage.2008-07-07T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=12774Three groups working separately have scanned the human genome and discovered almost simultaneously that a gene on chromosome 15 increases susceptibility to lung cancer, though they disagree on how: Certain variants of the gene make the lungs more vulnerable to cancer, while other variants appear to make the brain more responsive to the effects of the nicotine.2008-07-07T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=12786The long, enthusiastic debate about whether the brain is hardwired for language gets a boost now and then, most recently from the release several months ago of a book claiming we are hardwired to, among other things, curse. Continuing research suggests that even though newborns cannot speak or understand language, our brains may indeed be built for language from birth or even before.2008-07-07T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=12746Blind people who partially recover their sight can end up processing both visual and auditory information in the same region of the visual cortex, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Neuroscience.2008-07-07T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=12140Some scientists are concerned about use of antidepressants in people with bipolar disorder.2008-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=12146Eye drops explored as alternative to brain biopsy: News from the frontier2008-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=12148Insomnia and depression: News from the frontier2008-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=12144News from the frontier: Meth changes the brain over the long term2008-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=12142Social Status Affects the Brain: News from the frontier2008-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=12150You really do get what you pay for. So says a group of “neuroeconomists,” who study the brain pathways involved in consumer behavior.2008-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=12134Because about one-third of people with epilepsy do not respond to medication, researchers are trying to form a clearer picture of the way seizures develop in the brain.2008-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=12136Use of Deep Brain Stimulation Widens: No one knows just how DBS makes a difference, but the dramatic effect that the procedure had on the obese man’s memory may provide a clue.2008-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=11808Several studies published almost simultaneously in three journals have identified genes linked to autism, underscoring the power of new techniques for scanning the human genome.2008-03-18T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=11804Chronic pain can cause depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances, even difficulty making decisions. Reporting in the Feb. 6 Journal of Neuroscience, a team of Northwestern University scientists explains why. A News from the Frontier item.2008-03-18T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=11800Researchers in Los Angeles report a new gene therapy that destroys glioblastoma multiforme (GBM). tumors in animals. A News from the Frontier item.2008-03-18T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=11802Engineers at Johns Hopkins University have developed a chip that works as a mini-laboratory for studies of neuronal growth. A News from the Frontier item.2008-03-18T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=11798Numerous studies have linked poverty to low IQ scores and poor school performance. New studies offer insights into why.2008-03-18T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=11806After nearly 50 years of focusing on dopamine, the brain transmitter system that fails in Parkinson’s disease, experts in the field are increasingly convinced of the need to consider other possible culprits to solve the riddle of this disabling neurodegenerative disorder. A protein called alpha-synuclein is at the top of the list.2008-03-18T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=11796The connection between the pain of a migraine headache and the aura has long been a mystery. But an emerging theory of migraines tightly links the two.2008-03-18T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=11604The findings of the Dana Consortium on Arts and Cognition, announced in March 2008, illuminate the way for further research and begin to shed light on the neural mechanisms that may underlie the connections.2008-03-04T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=10664We all remember occasions when we ate something that just did not taste right: the overripe apple, the rotten meat, the sour milk. Our ability to reject these foods as unpleasant, even dangerous, resides in part in the gustatory cortex, a small region of the insula, deep inside the brain. Recent findings indicate that reduced activity in the gustatory cortex may be connected to anorexia nervosa. 2008-02-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=10674A new study examines the role of depression among patients in treatment for alcoholism who also were trying to quit smoking. The findings indicate that depression makes it more difficult to stay off alcohol but does not have a clear-cut effect on smoking. 2008-02-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=10668An ongoing study of Vietnam veterans with head injuries has yielded an important clue about abnormal brain activity in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which causes intrusive memories, flashbacks, and hair-trigger anxiety in some 15 million sufferers worldwide, according to the World Health Organization.2008-02-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=10672A medication used in treating rheumatoid arthritis has shown dramatic benefits for patients with Alzheimer’s disease, improving memory and cognitive problems within minutes of the start of treatment.2008-02-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=10670In deep brain stimulation (DBS) to treat movement disorders, a surgically implanted electrode delivers precise pulses into the brain’s movement centers. DBS is an effective treatment for Parkinson’s and other movement disorders, but exactly how it works is not well understood. Because neurons communicate electrically, most scientists assume the procedure corrects or disrupts abnormal signaling among neurons. 2008-02-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=10660Arguably the most ambitious of today’s brainmachine devices is one that aims specifically to help locked-in patients like Bauby by converting their inner thoughts to real-time synthesized speech. But the effort to develop this electronic “speech prosthesis” shows just how difficult it can be to meld mind with metal.2008-02-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=10662The recent recommendations by the nation’s top pediatricians association to screen all infants for autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has been largely hailed as a necessary step in ensuring that children with a disorder are identified and treated early. At the same time, it has raised questions, even among proponents of guidelines, about the potential downsides of widespread screening for ASD and other childhood neuropsychiatric disorders. 2008-02-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=10666In recent years, neuroscientists have examined the phenomenon of out-of-body experiences to better understand how the brain integrates sensory information to form the idea of self and the idea that the self is localized within the body (see Out-of-body but in the Brain, BrainWork, July-August 2006). New research furthers these findings by using special displays to induce the illusion of an out-of-body experience in normal participants.2008-02-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=10380Diet plays an important role in neuron formation in the adult brain, and adjusting how much and how often one eats affects both this process—called neurogenesis—and learning and memory abilities.2007-12-06T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=10124In amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), multiple lines of evidence may suggest that astrocyte dysfunction is a contributing factor in disease progression.2007-11-21T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=10126Mirror neurons, an intriguing class of brain cells thought to enable us to mimic others’ movements and perhaps learn to speak, may come in three distinct types, which researchers suggest could help explain the brain’s basis for intent and cooperation.2007-11-21T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=10122Stimulating the brain during learning can improve long-term memory, at least for one type of learning, according to research from the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke and presented at the meeting.2007-11-21T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=10120A new technology known as diffusion tensor imaging suggests that post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, and traumatic brain injury—two common problems facing veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq—may both produce a type of damage barely recognized until now.2007-11-21T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=10112At a packed symposium at the Society for Neuroscience meeting, a panel of researchers described how immune-signaling systems are being co-opted by the brain to prune and fine-tune its synapses.2007-11-21T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=10114Building on economics research that has examined game theory and risk-based decision-making, scientists are applying their observations of brain activity to the new field of “neuroeconomics.”2007-11-21T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=10110Understanding how the brain generates the thoughts, feelings and impulses that make up human consciousness will require a reliable brain-wiring diagram of almost unimaginable complexity. Scientists at the Society for Neuroscience meeting discussed emerging technologies that suggest a world of possibility for such brain mapping.2007-11-21T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=10118Dozens of studies presented at the Society for Neuroscience annual meeting offered new, albeit preliminary, insights into the cause of addiction and possibilities for treatment.2007-11-21T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=10116A decade of basic science discoveries in spinal cord repair and regeneration are leading to early-stage clinical trials as researchers agree that they will need to employ a broad range of therapies.2007-11-21T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=10108A series of separate reports at the Society for Neuroscience meeting adds new support to the idea that the remarkable adaptability of the adolescent brain can be a double-edged sword: The dramatic remodeling of the brain during adolescence holds tremendous opportunities for growth and learning but also appears to increase a teen’s vulnerability to the long-term effects of environmental influences such as stress and drug experimentation.2007-11-21T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=8956News from the Frontier: Brain activity may hold the key to migraine2007-09-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=8958News from the Frontier: Key pathway helps keep fear memories intact.2007-09-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=8960News from the Frontier: Stem cells protect neurons in ALS.2007-09-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=8954News from the Frontier: Unsuspected role for axons in information routing.2007-09-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=8906Side bar to accompany Brenda Patoine's story, "Researchers Tap into the Rhythms of Life."2007-09-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=8910"Imaging Sheds Light on Autism" by Faith Hickman Brynie for the September-October issue of BrainWork. Faith Hickman Brynie is a freelance science and medical writer based in Bigfork, Mont. She can be reached at fbrynie@centurytel.net.2007-09-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=8908The many pregnant women who have diabetes or develop it during pregnancy have another reason control their blood sugar: Abnormal glucose levels could affect their child’s memory, and damage might not be reversible.2007-09-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=8900"Researchers Tap into the Rhythms of Life" by Brenda Patoine for the September-October issue of BrainWork. Brenda Patoine is a freelance science writer who has been covering neuroscience for more than 15 years.  She can be reached at bpatoine@aol.com.2007-09-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=8912Activity levels in certain parts of the brain are different in Americans than in East Asians when they process visual stimuli, suggesting that culture can determine how people see the world. 2007-08-23T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=8374News from the Frontier: Gene therapy may treat Parkinson’s2007-07-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=8664“News” was written by Kelli Whitlock Burton, a freelance science writer in Columbus, Ohio. 2007-07-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=8364One News from the Frontier item from Kelli Whitlock Burton.2007-07-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=8368One News from the Frontier item by Kelli Whitlock Burton for the July-August 2007 BrainWork.2007-07-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=8342Kayt Sukel's article "Ingredients May Affect Brain Health" in the July-August 2007 issue of BrainWork.2007-07-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=8344Elizabeth Norton Lasley's article "Memory Research Helps Tone Down What’s Best Forgotten" for the July-August issue of BrainWork.2007-07-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=8348 Faith Hickman Brynie's article, "Simple Creatures Provide Intriguing Findings" for the July-August issue of BrainWork.2007-07-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=8356Brenda Patoine's article, "White Matter Matters More than Once Thought" for the July-August 2007 issue of BrainWork.2007-06-26T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=7382During the past five years, Marcus Raichle and his team at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have looked at that question. While working on other neuroimaging studies, Raichle noticed an interesting trend in brain activation when experimental participants began a cognitive task.2007-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=7368Side Bar to accompany Tom Valeo's article, "Genetic Intrigue Stimulates Pain Research" for the May-June 2007 BrainWork.2007-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=7390News from the Frontier item by Elizabeth Norton Lasley for the May-June issue of BrainWork.2007-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=7388News from the Frontier item by Elizabeth Norton Lasley for the May-June 2007 BrainWork.2007-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=7392News from the Frontier item by Elizabeth Norton Lasley for the May-June 2007 BrainWork.2007-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=7394News from the Frontier item by Elizabeth Norton Lasley for the May-June BrainWork.2007-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=7358In recent years, rigorous research has provided scientists with a detailed understanding of how pain signals travel from the skin and other organs to the brain. Different mutations in a single gene, however, demonstrate how much about pain remains mysterious: one worsens pain, while a second seems to prevent it.2007-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=7374A new study led by researchers at Columbia University provides the first evidence in humans that a structured exercise training program increases neurogenesis—the birth and development of new nerve cells—in a memory hub of the brain.2007-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=7386For the first time, scientists have identified the brain circuitry involved in the creation of “flashbulb memories”—vivid, picturelike recollections of shocking, traumatic events such as the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks—and that personal involvement in these events may be crucial in forming these memories.2007-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=5378News from the Frontier item. Newborn neurons join up in memory networks.2007-04-02T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=5398News from the Frontier item.  Cortisol, a "stress hormone,” may be a stress reducer.2007-03-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=5388News from the Frontier item, "A surprising player in Parkinson’s disease."2007-03-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=5400News from the Frontier item. The Mediterranean lifestyle, including red wine and olive oil, may benefit your health due to stress reducing properties.2007-03-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=5322Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), which reveals the location of the delicate neural fibers that transmit signals in the brain, is providing insight into how the living brain shares information.2007-03-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=5372Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that is triggered by memories of a traumatic event. Building on research from the late 1990s, researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health have discovered a new aspect of PTSD: it may increase the risk of heart disease.2007-03-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=5484Thanks to the latest in a series of findings dating to 1999, researchers may be closing in on treatments for Rett syndrome, a neurological disorder that primarily affects girls and leaves them physically and mentally disabled.2007-03-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=5250The recent controversy surrounding antidepressant drugs and suicide risk has raised important questions about the risks and benefits of treating depression, the most common mental disorder and the leading cause of disability worldwide. The debate also has underscored a troubling fact about depression treatment: beyond drugs such as fluoxetine (Prozac) and sertraline (Zoloft), there is a paucity of therapeutic options. And the situation is not likely to change any time soon.2007-03-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=6028The basal ganglia, a group of interconnected brain areas located deep in the cerebral cortex, have proved to be at work in learning, the formation of good and bad habits, and some psychiatric and addictive disorders. Scientists have found that the neurotransmitter dopamine, already linked to the basal ganglia in movement disorders, also is important in learning via reward and punishment, as well as in disorders including schizophrenia and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder. This new understanding of how the basal ganglia work has revealed possible avenues for treatment of these and other disorders.2007-01-15T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=6030A torrent of recent research has illuminated not only how these new neurons develop but also what influences their genesis, survival, and integration into the brain.2007-01-15T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=6112Because pharmaceutical companies are loath to invest in a therapy that may never succeed—a particular obstacle in neurology, which includes very rare diseases—many researchers are finding new ways to use drugs already available.2007-01-15T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=6114In a scientific first, researchers based in London have restored vision in mice by transplanting light-sensitive photoreceptor cells in their eyes. Although human application is not assured, the finding is a significant first step.2007-01-15T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=6338News from the Frontier item by Elizabeth Norton Lasley.2007-01-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=6314News from the Frontier item by Elizabeth Norton Lasely.2007-01-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=6352News from the Frontier item by Elizabeth Norton Lasely.2007-01-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=6320News from the Frontier item by Elizabeth Norton Lasely.2007-01-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=6178Neuroscientists and architects have started to work together to try to better understand what makes a human environment rich or beneficial and how such an environment might affect an individual’s neurobiology. Already a formal association, the Academy of Neuroscience for Architecture (ANFA), has formed. In the second annual “Dialogues between Neuroscience and Society” lecture at SfN, world-renowned architect Frank Gehry described what he tries to accomplish with his buildings.2006-11-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=5926In some of the more than 500 Alzheimer’s-related presentations at SfN, researchers shed new light on how diet, exercise, red wine consumption, and stress may lower or raise disease risk.2006-11-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=5920The similarities between the pathways used by nerves and by blood vessels first struck anatomists hundreds of years ago; they appear clearly, for example, in the detailed drawings of Leonardo da Vinci. At the Society for Neuroscience meeting, researchers presented more than a dozen examples of neurovascular links in health and disease.2006-11-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=6172As the field of neuroethics approaches its 5th birthday—the term was coined at a conference in spring 2002—widening awareness  of the responsibilities researchers take on when they tap deeply into volunteers’ brains is giving rise to new questions in places such as Venezuela, Canada, and Japan. Scientists from those countries, as well as the United States, gathered at SfN for a symposium called “The International Frontier of Neuroethics.”2006-11-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=6246News From the Frontier item by Sandra Ackerman.2006-11-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=6270News from the Frontier item by Brenda Patoine.2006-11-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=6304News from the Frontier item by Rabiya Tuma.2006-11-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=6006Sidebar by Brenda Patoine to accompany Sandra Ackerman story, "Stem Cell Researchers Set Sights on Parkinson's."2006-11-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=5932Perplexing Estrogen Findings Drive Research 2006-11-01 false There is hope for hormone therapy in women, but it won’t be your mother’s regimen. That was one theme that emerged from a series of SfN reports2006-11-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=5980One of the most promising prospects for treatment of a neurodegenerative disorder lies in the use of embryonic stem cells to obtain dopamine for Parkinson’s disease. The goal is ambitious, but scientists are coming closer to reaching it, a panel of researchers from around the world said at the Society for Neuroscience meeting.2006-11-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=6260News from the Frontier item by Rabiya Tuma.2006-11-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=5900The idea that drug addiction is a result of “learning gone wild” was bolstered by several reports at SfN revealing profound, drug-induced changes in the same neural circuitry the brain applies to learn useful behaviors.2006-11-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=7162Sidebar on sleep's role in the brain to accompany Rabiya S. Tuma's story, "Sleep Loss Affects More than the Brain" in the September-October 2006 issue of BrainWork.2006-09-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=7166Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, or ADHD, conjures images of young children jumping up and down, running around in the classroom, and not being able to concentrate on their schoolwork. But ADHD affects adults, too: the majority of children with the disorder never outgrow it.2006-09-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=7188News from the Frontier item by Elizabeth Norton Lasley for the September-October issue of BrainWork.2006-09-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=7170News from the Frontier item by Elizabeth Norton Lasley for the September-October 2006 BrainWork.2006-09-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=7190News from the Frontier item by Elizabeth Norton Lasely for the September-October issue of BrainWork.2006-09-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=7192News from the Frontier item by Elizabeth Norton Lasley for the September-October 2006 issue of BrainWork.2006-09-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=6520Fragile X syndrome, the most common form of genetically caused mental retardation after Down syndrome, produces severe intellectual deficits in children, as well as behavioral, emotional, and some physical problems. Recent findings indicate a surprising second effect from the same gene: vulnerability to a neurodegenerative disorder known as fragile-X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome, or FXTAS, which usually strikes men older than 50. Older women can develop problems as well.2006-09-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=7168Sidebar to accompany Thomas May's story, "ADHD Grows Up" in the September-October 2006 issue of BrainWork.2006-09-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=7160Researchers have known that too little sleep affects mental performance. Now they are finding that sleep loss affects a whole lot more, including the immune system, cardiovascular health, and even hunger regulation.2006-09-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=7164Cytokines, small proteins released by cells throughout the body, are generally known as chemical messengers that play a critical role in controlling inflammatory and immune responses. Growing evidence suggests, however, that cytokines also contribute to neuropathology, including disease effects on brain signaling and neural circuit behavior.2006-09-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=5052The epidemiological evidence linking social factors and better brain health is strong and growing, convincing many experts that the connection is bona fide. Even so, recent history shows all too clearly that results in population-based studies do not always hold up when subjected to the rigors of controlled clinical trials (the Women’s Health Initiative findings about estrogen are one example).2006-07-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=7116Neuroscientists have long suggested that intelligence is related to some aspects of brain anatomy, with the size of the cortex (the outer part of the brain) thought to be the most likely feature to correlate positively with intelligence. However, according to a recent study, the way the cortex develops over time is a much better predictor.2006-07-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=7146News for the Frontier item by Rabiya S. Tuma for the July-August 2006 issue of BrainWork.2006-07-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=7148News from the Frontier item by Rabiya S. Tuma for the July-August issue of BrainWork.2006-07-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=7128News from the Frontier item by Rabiya S. Tuma for the July-August 2006 issue of BrainWork.2006-07-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=7126News from the Frontier item by Rabiya S. Tuma for the July-August 2006 BrainWork.2006-07-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=120Hormones Play Surprising Roles 2006-07-01 false true Hunger is such a fundamental urge, and food such a vitally important reward, that the brain has a complex set of chemical messengers and receptors dedicated to appetite, eating, and energy balance. New research is showing that these messenge2006-07-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=6494For centuries, the out-of-body experience, in which consciousness seems to float away from the body, has been widely regarded as a spiritual or mystical phenomenon. Some parapsychologists still believe that such experiences are just what they seem to be: a separation of consciousness from the body. 2006-07-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=66Diabetes and the Brain The Unseen Connection 2006-05-01 false true When citing the dangers of type II diabetes, doctors usually focus on associated, life-threatening conditions such as heart disease and risk of stroke. Research is beginning to show, how-ever, that diabetes can2006-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=80Expectations Trump Reality in Taste Response Taste Expectation 2006-05-01 false true “Our conduct is influenced not by our experience but by our expectations,” said George Bernard Shaw, the great English dramatist. Now, more than a half-century after the playwright’s death,2006-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=110Mitigating Radiation Damage News From The Frontier 2006-05-01 false true Each year more than 215,000 Americans receive partial or whole brain irradiation for brain cancers. Radiation may cure or slow the cancer, but more than 50 percent of the patients who survive bey2006-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=108On The Way To Restoring Vision News From The Frontier 2006-05-01 false true One in every 3,000 people worldwide will become blind due to degeneration of the photoreceptor cells in the retina, which convert light into electrical impulses and pass them on to the brain.2006-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=92Plaques Without Memory Problems News From The Frontier 2006-05-01 false true Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is characterized by abnormal plaques and tangles in the brains of patients. Now, researchers at the Buck Institute for Age Research in Novato, Calif., have found that if they b2006-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=96Targeting Craving Shows Therapeutic Potential 2006-05-01 false true A new weight-loss drug illustrates both the promise and problem with tackling cravings, such as for food or nicotine, via the brain's endogenous cannabinoid system. The promise is fueled by a growing body of evidence from laborator2006-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=70A new study suggests that, at least in men, whether we empathize with another person’s pain depends on how that person had behaved in the past, and, perhaps more important, whether we like or dislike them.2006-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=118The Benefits Of Social Interaction News From The Frontier 2006-05-01 false true Scientists know that running induces the production of new neurons in rodent brains. Elizabeth Gould and colleagues at Princeton University report that this benefit is wiped out when anim2006-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=156Diabetes May Change The Brain News From The Frontier 2006-03-01 false true Diabetes is known to damage nerves in the arms and legs, sometimes leading to the painful condition known as diabetic neuropathy or the need to amputate limbs. Research since the 1960s has2006-03-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=712Dissecting Dyslexia 2006-03-01 false true Children who do not learn to read fluently by age 10 or 11 are often thought to be lacking in intelligence or motivation. In most cases, however, they are neither stupid nor lazy. They have dyslexia, a learning disability2006-03-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=154News From The Frontier: Diversions may affect memory2006-03-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=152News From The Frontier: Hunger hormone plays role in memory2006-03-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=720Nearly one-fifth of us will experience neuropathic pain during our lifetimes, with exaggerated pain sensations or pain in response to a stimulus that is not normally painful, such as a light touch. Now, researchers report that overly active immune cells in the spinal cord may be to blame.2006-03-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=714Man’s best friend just got a little closer to his master. In December 2005, a team of scientists announced in the journal Nature that they had sequenced the entire genome of the domesticated dog. Their report has important implications for the understanding of human genetic diseases, as well as gene-related personality and behavioral traits in humans.2006-03-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=150The sleeping brain is known to replay the day's events; recordings taken from the brain cells of busy rats show that neurons active in a given behavior-exploring a new maze, for example-fire in the same sequence after the rat goes to sleep.2006-03-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=718Stroke research is heating up again, fanned by promising results from large-scale clinical trials for a new drug under investigation for acute stroke. The results are generating excitement in a field that has been strangely quiet in recent years, following a long series of disappointments that seemed to scare off pharmaceutical investment and put a damper on the search for therapies that might make a dent in stroke’s devastating toll. 2006-03-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=732Ethicist Thomas Murray of the Hastings Institute asks neuroscientists, who are beginning to think about the coming wave of “smart” drugs, to consider how far humans will go succeed.2006-01-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=174News From The Frontier: Feeling Your Pain by Brenda Patoine.2006-01-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=196News From The Frontier: Separation Anxiety by Brenda Patoine2006-01-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=158News From The Frontier: When Time Stands Still by Brenda Patoine.2006-01-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=738The health benefits of meditation—lowering blood pressure, improving immune function, decreasing stress—are well recognized, but can meditative practice actually change the brain? Growing evidence from neuroscience suggests that it can, providing increasing support for the idea that meditation alters both the function and structure of the brain.2006-01-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=722The incidence of autism in the U.S. appears to be increasing—dramatically, by some accounts—leading many people to call it a full-scale epidemic. But even as scientists try to figure out why autism cases are rising, there is a continuing debate about just how real the rise is.2006-01-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=730Sometimes lost amid the political and ethical controversies surrounding stem cells and cloning for therapeutic purposes are the tough scientific hurdles that must be over-come before stem cell-based therapies are a reality.2006-01-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=726Researchers have often viewed the placebo effect as a con-founding factor in clinical trials, and thus have tried to minimize it. Now some are taking the opposite approach and studying how the placebo effect occurs and could be harnessed to help with treatment.2006-01-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=736To create, a person must have knowledge but forget the knowledge, must see unexpected connections in things but not have a mental disorder, must work hard but spend time doing nothing, must be competitive while afflicted by self doubt.2006-01-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=160News from the Frontier:  The Return of Tau by Brenda Patoine.2006-01-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=322News From The Frontier: 3-D "Maps" Show Brain Damage From HIV by Elizabeth Norton Lasley.2005-11-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=350News From The Frontier: Cognitive Effects of Pre-Term Birth Linked to Movement Center by Elizabeth Norton Lasley.2005-11-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=776Like the ocean across which the conversation took place, “The Ethical Brain: The First Trans-Atlantic Discussion on Neuroethics” raised a sea of questions regarding the role of neuroscience research in society.2005-11-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=766It has long been known that Ludwig van Beethoven composed music after he became deaf. Now neuroscience research is revealing how Beethoven was able to “hear” the notes of his symphony, at least in his own head, even though he couldn’t hear the music being played on stage or the applause that followed.2005-11-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=376News From The Frontier: Nicotine Gives the Brain More Bang for the Buck by Elizabeth Norton Lasley.2005-11-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=294A new study is helping scientists zero in on the genes that may confer susceptibility to Parkinson's disease. In what is called a whole-genome association study, Demetrius Maraganore and colleagues at the Mayo Clinic and Perlegen Sciences Inc. took blood samples from more than 1,500 individuals, including patients with the disease, siblings who did not have the disease, and unrelated, healthy control subjects.2005-11-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=756In terms of brain function, the synapse is where it all happens. It is at these molecular junctions— 100 trillion or more of them, by current estimates—that neurons talk to one another, exchanging biochemical messages that ultimately orchestrate how we feel, think, remember, and behave.2005-11-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=796Autoimmune disorders of the central nervous system (CNS) such as multiple sclerosis are characterized by chronic inflammation. This inflammation leads to neurodegenerative features such as the loss of myelin, the protective coating around nerves, and the loss of parts of nerves called axons. An Italian research team has found, however, that transplanting neural stem cells called multipotent precursor cells (NPCs) can protect the brain against inflammation by inducing the death of certain cells that promote such inflammation.2005-11-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=814Blocking Neuropathic Pain by Targeting Immune System Receptors Immune Receptors Activate Pain 2005-09-01 false true Gone are the days when scientists believed that the body’s immune and central nervous systems operated independently. Recent studies have shown that2005-09-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=660Controlling Insulin Resistance May Lower The Risk Of Alzheimer’s Disease News From The Frontier 2005-09-01 false true Insulin resistance is associated with diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and cancer. More mysterious is how insulin affects the brain.   In the Oc2005-09-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=800Deep Brain Stimulation A Technique for Mood, Too? 2005-09-01 false true Deep brain stimulation (DBS) devices have been implanted in at least 30,000 people in the eight years since the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved them for the treatment of movement d2005-09-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=818Depression Increases Risk after Heart Disease 2005-09-01 false true A growing body of evidence indicates that for people with heart disease, depression can shorten life expectancy and increase the risk of additional cardiac events. Therefore, researchers have sug2005-09-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=666News From The Frontier: A Central Control System For Movement  by Rabiya S. Tuma.2005-09-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=668News From The Frontier: Go Ahead, Blink … You Won’t Notice by Rabiya S. Tuma.2005-09-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=664News From The Frontier: Social Response Is Amiss In Williams Syndrome by Rabiya S. Tuma.2005-09-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=810Congressional hearings questioning beefy baseball players about anabolic steroid use, along with the growing use of testosterone replacement therapy, have refocused attention on the good and bad effects of the family of so-called “male” sex hormones known as androgens.2005-09-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=1300Functional brain imaging is thought to be one of the most important discoveries in sleep research in the past 100 years. Researchers are using it to look at what happens in the whole brain during sleep, both in healthy individuals and in people who suffer sleep disturbances such as depression, sleep apnea, and insomnia.2005-07-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=1290Cha-Ching! Neural Processes Underlie Economic Decisions Economic Pathways 2005-07-01 false Since imaging technologies made their debut in the early 1990s, they have gone from providing colored pictures of specific brain areas to yielding valuable information about2005-07-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=678Controlling Emotional Feedback Is Key to Depression News From The Frontier 2005-07-01 false People with anxiety disorders or depression complain not so much about the emotion itself as its unceasing nature, says Daniel W2005-07-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=676News From The Frontier: Blocking Opiate Receptors Interferes With Nicotine Reward  by Rabiya S. Tuma.2005-07-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=1292New Techniques Detect Alzheimer's Before Symptoms Develop Alzheimer's Detection 2005-07-01 false Being able to detect high blood pressure can help doctors treat the condition before it causes a stroke or other serious illness. Similarly, the ability to measure bloo2005-07-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=674Noise Hides the Signal in Dyslexia News From The Frontier 2005-07-01 false true Children with dyslexia have trouble recognizing the sounds that make up words, but it is not clear why. One hypothesis is that dyslexic readers are less able to perceive visual cues th2005-07-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=822Peering into the Brain New Frontiers in Neural Imaging 2005-07-01 false true New technologies—and the innovative ways in which scientists have harnessed them— have driven advances in neural imaging beyond what any expert predicted 10 years ago. Ever more sophistic2005-07-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=672Vaccine Boosts Activity Of Chemotherapy In Brain Cancer News From The Frontier 2005-07-01 false true Clinical trials show that patients with glioblastoma multiforme, a particularly aggressive brain cancer, survived longer if they were treated with a vaccine follow2005-07-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=1310Brain Tumor Researchers Let Slip the Immune Cells of War 2005-05-01 false The formation of a tumor in the brain is a special case: advances in treatment for cancer elsewhere in the body have proved ineffectual for the most serious brain tumors. Now, however, resea2005-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=684Key Brain Area Lets Songbirds Try, Try Again News From The Frontier 2005-05-01 false true Practicing a motor activity, whether it is a piano concerto or a golf swing, involves doing two things at once: experimenting with possibilities and evaluating the results. B2005-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=1348Neurotoxin Threat Impels Research With Botulism, Early Detection Is Key The Neurotoxin Threat 2005-05-01 false In an era when new threats to public health and safety seem to spring up frequently, it may come as a surprise to realize that the world’s deadliest neuro2005-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=682New Clue To Stress-Induced Memories News From The Frontier 2005-05-01 false true Stress hormones help firm up memories of emotional events so that we can avoid or deal with the challenge if it occurs again. For example, cortisol, produced by the adrenal glands, ha2005-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=1344Old Drug’s New Trick Offers Hope for ALS Old Drug May Treat ALS 2005-05-01 false The discovery of penicillin in 1928 is one of medical science’s most remarkable stories: a laboratory “accident”—mold growing on a petri dish—led to the wonder drug of the 20th century2005-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=686Stem Cells From Hair Follicles News From The Frontier 2005-05-01 false true Scientists seeking a readily available supply of stem cells have uncovered an unlikely trove: hair follicles, which produce hair throughout life from cells with “stem-like” characteristics2005-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=1338The Amygdala The Body’s Alarm Circuit Threat Perception 2005-05-01 false You must make an oral presentation in front of your peers. As you take your place before the group, your heart pounds in your chest, your palms become sweaty, and your knees shake uncontrollabl2005-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=690Tracing the Brain’s “Trust Pathway” News From The Frontier 2005-05-01 false true Trust and reputation are so vital to social interaction—especially when money is involved—that they may have dedicated circuitry in the brain. The decision to trust one’s partner in2005-05-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=1370A Critical Link between Chronic Stress and Aging Chronic Stress and Aging 2005-03-01 false You may know that chronic stress is bad for your health, but a widely publicized study now tells us it could take a decade or more off your life. The study found that chroni2005-03-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=702Early Detection of Alzheimer’s Disease News From The Frontier 2005-03-01 false true One of the first examples of nanotechnology being put to use in the service of medicine is a new, extremely sensitive technique for finding minute amounts of certain disease prote2005-03-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=1362In Search of Therapy The Genetics of Deafness The Genetics of Deafness 2005-03-01 false THE ANATOMY OF HEARING Using physiological and anatomical studies, scientists have learned that sound waves are converted into electrical impulses by sensory cells in the inner ear. As2005-03-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=700Migraine, Aura, And The Risk Of Stroke: What’s The Connection? News From The Frontier 2005-03-01 false true People who suffer from migraine headaches tend to show a higher incidence of ischemic stroke (blockage of a blood vessel) than the general population. The c2005-03-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=1368New Clues Emerge in Hunt for Autism Gene Seeking Autism Clues 2005-03-01 false Autism, a spectrum of often heartbreaking behavioral traits, also can be studied as a mystifying collection of genetic variants. Several lines of research are converging to show how oppos2005-03-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=698Prions Require High-Tech Hunting News From The Frontier 2005-03-01 false true When mad cow disease and its human equivalent, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), were traced in 1997 to an infectious particle called a prion, the discovery brought neurologist and biochem2005-03-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=1356Recalling Freud Researchers Uncover Voluntary Repression of Memories 2005-03-01 false The truth is that we all live by leaving behind … —Jorge Luis Borges, Funes the Memorious The title character of Jorge Luis Borges’s short story Funes the Memorious li2005-03-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=694Sad Simians In Neuroscience News From The Frontier 2005-03-01 false true A group of female cynomolgus monkeys in Winston-Salem, N.C., are poised to offer valuable new information about depression in humans—particularly in women, who account for nearly 12 million o2005-03-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=710Fats and Learning News From The Frontier 2005-01-01 false true A series of animal studies helps clarify the effects of high-fat diets and obesity on learning and memory. First up: the “typical” American fast-food diet. M.H. Veerendra Kumar and colleagues at the Na2005-01-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=1378Imagine That! Neural Prosthetics Harness Thoughts to Control Computers and Robotics 2005-01-01 false Brain-machine interfaces. Microelectrodes implanted into the cortex to read neural signals. Robotic arms that respond to mere thoughts. Changing the television cha2005-01-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=704Learning What Makes a Good Navigator News From The Frontier 2005-01-01 false true Some people land in a foreign city and know their way around in one afternoon; others remain lost a week later. Now, Russell Epstein and colleagues from the University of Pennsylvania2005-01-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=1384Making the Impossible Probable Spinal Cord Researchers Inch Toward Reconnecting Brain to Body 2005-01-01 false THE ROLIPRAM QUANDARY: GOOD ADVICE THAT YOU JUST CAN’T TAKE Ironically, the spinal cord research findings that may hold the greatest hope for rapidly impact2005-01-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=706More Than Just Games News From The Frontier 2005-01-01 false true Whether violent video games induce aggression in devotees has been debated in scientific and political arenas. Now, evidence from a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) study shows that when2005-01-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=1392Neuroethics’ Growth Provokes Thoughtful Examination 2005-01-01 false Neuroethics, a subject still in its formative years, gained momentum in 2004 with neuroscience professionals, measured by the attention it drew in San Diego. After emerging at the Society’s 20032005-01-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=1386Parenting Matters Your Genes Prove It 2005-01-01 false If you are tempted to blame (or credit) Mom for making you the person you are today, your case may have just gotten stronger. In a scientific tour de force spanning at least two decades, McGill University neuro2005-01-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=708Sex, Pain and Memories News From The Frontier 2005-01-01 false true Why do women and men feel pain differently? How do naturally fluctuating estrogen levels affect the experience of pain? How do they affect memory? Jon-Kar Zubieta of the University of Michigan has2005-01-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=1390The Neurobiology of Economic Decisions 2005-01-01 false RISK AND REWARD SYSTEMS IN ADOLESCENTS Although adolescents and adults have similar cognitive abilities according to a variety of tests, teenagers are known for making high-risk decisions. “Why do adolescents’ brains2005-01-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=1388Timing of Separation Predicts Outcome 2005-01-01 false Studies show that early stress in monkey or human infants can lead to long-term social and behavioral problems. Now, Judy Cameron of the University of Pittsburgh and the Oregon National Primate Research Center2005-01-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=1380Tourette Syndrome A Neural Circuit Gone Awry 2005-01-01 false Tourette syndrome (TS) affects 1 in 200 children. Though long viewed as a movement disorder characterized by involuntary sounds and movements, clinicians and researchers have come to realize that it is mu2005-01-01T13:00 http://www.dana.org/news/brainwork/detail.aspx?id=9322Are there ethical questions that ought to be raised about the ends of research? Are there ethical problems with enhancement versus treatment? And can we discover things about our nature, such as whether we have free will? These are three questions Dr. Donald Kennedy, editor in chief of Science magazine, identified as central to the field of neuroethics during his Dana Alliance Lecture on Neuroethics, titled “Neuroethics: An Uncertain Future.”2004-01-01T13:00